Chapter 6: Diplomacy

The food experiment had gone well, Tom thought. Everything had been well received. Lucky for him he had bought snacks for the climb. The muesli bar had been an especially big hit; maybe they had a sweet tooth? After the wounded one had spoken out in surprise, the others looked like they practically demanded to get a piece from it. He had taken out another one for them to share, since it seemed only fair the one responsible for saving his ass got one for itself, especially since it hadn’t been entirely voluntary… The food had done the trick though, and tensions seemed to have eased. They didn’t seem hostile just weary of him, so he probably wasn’t a hostage, probably... With that, he thought it time to try to get to know his rescuers a bit better.

He had started with the classic, pointing to himself and saying “Tom” and looking expectantly at the dragonettes. It didn’t take long for them to figure it out. They seemed smart enough he thought to himself. Apparently, the one who had saved him from death by pancake was apparently called Ulhartiki, at least he thought so. Their language was very weird and guttural. She had pointed at a small dark blue gem embedded in a thick blue leather necklace around her neck, and then at herself. It locked to Tom like a sapphire, so Sapphire then. A nice name, he thought. “Sapphire,” he had responded, pointing at the gem. She chuckled a bit at this. His language probably sounded just as funny to her as hers to him.

The leader had pointed to herself and proclaimed “Dakota.” She had then proceeded to point at the rest of the group in turn. “Fengi, Esmeralda, Jackalope.”

“Jackalope!?” Tom had exclaimed, tilting his head to try and indicate confusion. He knew that one, it was that little rabbit thing with antlers. How did he know that word? He made a gesture at the one who was apparently named Jackalope and made antlers and squatted down. It had given a little laugh at the display and nodded, so there were words that were the same? Dakota did also sound familiar, like something to do with Indians, but he wasn’t sure. Speaking of which, Dakota had looked at him very quizzically at his discovery of a common word. The names also sounded feminine. He certainly couldn’t imagine a guy named Sapphire. Jackalope maybe, but for now he concluded he had been rescued by magical flying amazon dragonettes. Saying it sounded like an old comic from the 60. This was insanity on a level he hadn’t dared expect.

The one who had been guarding him, called Fengi apparently, had offered some food of her own, an eclectic collection of dried meat without much flavor, some tough chewy roots, nuts he didn’t recognize, and some kind of drink in a horn. It tasted very herbal and woody, almost like pine or spruce. He didn’t exactly appreciate the taste. It seemed like a weird beer or something; there was alcohol in there too, not much though a few percent tops. One more thing they had in common, he thought. This was good, since he had brought a few bottles of rum and whiskey for trading purposes. Good alcohol had always been worth something through human history.

But he had more pressing matters at the moment than the local culinary specialties. He needed to get cleaned up, as he was still covered in gore, though the dragonettes didn’t seem to mind. And he should really get a proper doctor or something similar to look at his gut wounds; those things could be nasty even if it was now sealed. He was no medic, so he didn’t know much about how to fix people besides keeping them alive for long enough to get them to the proper medical personnel. He began wondering if he could get them to take him back to his quad bike. As he looked at them, he would not have deemed them capable of lifting someone like himself or Sapphire, at least not for long, but gravity was weird here, and if not for the few seconds unconscious, it seemed like Sapphire would have succeeded in avoiding the ground? He just hoped they didn’t leave him here. He had no idea how to find his way back to the bike.

As he stood there lost in his own thoughts for a moment, he snapped back to attention. It was clear that decisions were being made without him, and he had no idea what they were planning. ‘Well, this is no good,’ he thought to himself. He managed to get the attention of Fengi and tried making mountain gestures with his hands, and pointing to his backpack, and then around on the ground as if to indicate more backpacks. The dragonette seemed to get the message and joined the discussion with the others. Before they decided to leave though he wanted to find his gun and knife. They couldn't have gone far.

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The creature had introduced himself as Tom. Huh, that almost sounded like the nicknames they used for each other. It was a most peculiar being, Sapphire pondered, it was clad from head to toe in fabric, and it even had gloves and boots on? Was it so squishy it needed the protection? It had no scales, sure, but the thin fabric had done little to protect it from the vargulf’s attacks. Then there were the colors: green, black, and some browns. Dirty colors, not a very proud being clearly, but the patterns were intricate, and most of its clothes shared the design. Some weird form of artistic expression, or perhaps a symbol of a family? It looked like it would blend in well with the forest though, so perhaps it was for practical purposes? If she was stuck on the ground she wouldn’t mind remaining hidden, she thought. It did also have what looked like crests on its shoulders and breast. Maybe clan or family crests, or perhaps nation? It also had a weird helmet that didn’t cover the face at all? “I think it’s a soldier.”

Dakota turned her head to Sapphire. “And what would a soldier of a seemingly far away land be doing here? I don’t recognize anything on him, so it must be very far from home.”

Jackalope joined in, “And how exactly did he get so far from home? He definitely can’t fly.”

“Somebody ferried him here?” Esmeralda added, helpfully.

“And why would anybody ferry a soldier who can’t speak our tongue across the world to run around on the forest floor?” Dakota was clearly not convinced.

As the others continued to bicker, Fengi got out some of her own snacks and gave them to the creature, along with some of her spruce beer. It seemed thankful, though its face did look funny when he tried the beer. Fengi chuckled. “Seems the beer wasn't a hit.”

“It hardly seems hostile. What if he ended up here by accident?” Sapphire added from the stone she had been placed on. “And why was he climbing up to us?”

“Perhaps he was sneaking up on us?” Jackalope retorted.

“In the middle of the day? By climbing up a cliff? If that is true it would be crazy enough to still be trying to kill us.” Sapphire was struggling to find a reason why it was out here. It didn’t make sense.

“So what now?” Esmeralda said, getting to the core of the problem, as usual.

At this point Fengi piped up again, “I think he wants to go back to the cliff. It looks like they have more stuff there, and they are looking for something too, seems they dropped it.”

“How could he have more stuff back there? It could hardly carry much more if it is out trekking alone?” Dakota did not sound convinced.

“Maybe he has more honey back there, maybe he has a cart or something?” Jackalope concluded, sounding very excited about the prospect.

“Fine, we’ll go back, not like it's in the wrong direction. I don’t think we'll make it home tonight anyway so might as well camp on the cliff. We are gonna bring him home with us. Maybe Apuma will know what it is.” There was a collective sigh from the group as it dawned on them they would be switch carrying two people and camping under open sky tonight.

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It seemed like they had come to a decision, as the leader, Dakota, shouted out to him, making him look up from his searching. He winced a bit as he did so; the painkiller had helped, but it didn’t take everything. Dakota folded out her wings, beating them a bit, then made a mountain with her hands and pointed back the way he thought they had come from. Well that’s good news. Now I just need to find my damn gun. As she approached him, she started showing him her foot and grabbed her own shoulder. He guessed she was showing him how he would hold on? Before she got any further, he held up his finger and drew his other revolver, pointing at it, then around on the ground, and then his empty right leg holster. Dakota seemed nonplussed about the fact he had lost one of his precious guns, so he pointed it at a tree and said boom, making the recoil motion with his arm. She tilted her head at this. She held out her hand for the revolver, quite demanding Tom thought. He unloaded the weapon and handed it to her. She inspected it closely before looking back to him with a quizzical look, head tilted almost comically now.

Tom wasn’t really sure it was a great idea to teach them how a gun worked, but he was pretty sure it was either that or leave the other one behind. He walked over to where the wounded one was sitting. It wouldn't be fair to leave her out of it. Dakota said something to the others, and they gathered around. She handed him back the revolver, and he began to show them how to load the weapon. With a round in the chamber, he gestured for them to plug their ears. All except the one called Jackalope held their hands over their ears; she instead made some kind of snarky remark he guessed. He couldn’t understand it after all. He took aim at a nearby small tree and fired, the shot ringing out. They all flinched, and Jackalope was now clutching her ears. By his reckoning he had just learned a few new swearwords, their ears were apparently more sensitive than his. Made sense, they were larger, and their shape didn’t lend themselves well to being plugged. They were long, rigid, and pointy, like small horse ears almost?

As he walked over to the tree the others followed, Jackalope still yammering. They gasped when they saw the hole straight through the narrow tree trunk and the carnage done to the other side. Dakota was suddenly very keen on finding the missing revolver, ordering the others to go look for his gun. It didn't take too long to find the items. First, his knife was found and brought to Dakota, who inspected it. She ran her fingers down the jagged teeth on the backside of the knife, and rubbed a bit at the powder-coated steel. She then drew her own knife. It was a long slender blade, more like a dagger really. It looked very finely made. The handle looked like it was made from ivory, with a gem in the pommel. She compared them to each other all while talking with the others. Tom guessed they didn’t have treated steel like this.

After a while she gave Tom back the knife as the one who had been guarding him earlier came jogging over with his gun. She was holding the weapon very carefully after having just witnessed what it could do. As Tom took the gun he quickly inspected it. No apparent damage, what a relief. He looked at Dakota and nodded. She continued where she had left off with the instructions.

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Sapphire sat on her rock feeling useless. She couldn’t walk without help. Dakota had gone over to try and explain to their new acquaintance how to properly get on the wing when being carried. It was a maneuver they had practiced many times for just this kind of situation. But trying it with a complete newbie who couldn’t even speak their tongue seemed like a recipe for disaster. They couldn't afford another downed huntress, or they would have to walk home.

When Dakota had tried to explain to him what he was supposed to do, he had just waved them away, apparently more concerned with a thing he had lost. She sighed. This was already a long day for her, and Dakota was right that it was getting late. If they had to stop at the cliff and teach this thing basic aerial maneuvers first, then they would not be getting home today. That is when the guy had come over with a shiny piece of metal in his hands. Dakota explained it was what he had used on the vargulfs?

Sapphire couldn't tell how that lump of metal was supposed to kill a vargulf. “Must be magical, gather 'round, I think he’s gonna demonstrate,” Dakota said. Sapphire craned her neck to get a better look as he started to fiddle with the thing. It was clearly more than a block of metal; it had many moving parts to it. He took out a metal cylinder of what looked like brass and placed it in a slot. It fit perfectly, such craftsmanship! He then put the slot thing back to where it had started, pointed at a tree with it, and motioned to cover their ears. She did so. The thing spat flame out the end in a quick flash. The sound was deafening this close, startling Sapphire. Jackalope had, of course, not covered her ears. “I'm not afraid of a little thunder,” she had proclaimed smugly. Followed by “What the fuck is that thing? Aoowww, I can’t hear shit right now.” Sapphire sighed again. Some people never learn.

Fengi had helped her hobble over to the target tree. From the front, all you could see was a little hole, but on the back, a chunk the size of her fist was missing! That would kill almost anything she thought, and there had been room for 6 of those brass things! And he apparently had 2 of them. She gulped and made a mental note to treat Tom with more respect going forward. He had been very kind, giving her medical aid and honey. And he apparently had the capability to kill all of them. So it likely wasn’t out of fear he had been kind. “The vargulf must have gotten lucky and surprised him.” The others nodded in agreement, all seeming taken aback by the weapon.

Dakota had quickly gotten them back on track, leading the others in searching for the lost items. It hadn’t taken too long for them to find both another similar metal thing and what was clearly a knife made from black steel? What was it with this guy and dark colors? If he hadn't been so friendly Sapphire might have taken him for a servant of the dark and put a shaft in him. The items had been returned after a quick inspection by Dakota, being very careful with the fire-spitting thing. Then the instructions on how to switch carry had continued.